Toots

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There will be a public dance at Ainsworth hall, Saturday evening, Oct. 12, 1912. Admission — Gents 50¢, ladies free. Music — Piano, violin and drum.

— Hobart News, 10 Oct. 1912.

Gust Lindborg's hall continued as the mainstay of Ainsworth entertainment, with dances both ordinary and masquerade. What else could you do in Ainsworth on a Saturday night but go to the saloon and drink yourself silly? I suppose some people did both — or at least tried, but they were probably put out of the dance hall in short order.

The blacksmith and wagon-selling business also continued to prosper. During the summer of 1913, Gust ran a series of handsome advertisements for his Studebaker wagons in both Hobart newspapers.


From the Hobart News of May 15, 1913.
(Click on images to enlarge)


From the Hobart Gazette of June 6, 1913.


From the Hobart Gazette of July 25, 1913.

Anna's brother, Peter Palm, a carpenter by trade, had spent considerable time in Ainsworth during the early summer of 1912, fixing up and expanding the little Sullivan schoolhouse when the Lindborgs moved it to Ainsworth to serve as their new home. Evidently Peter was favorably impressed with the area: around that same time, he and his wife, Hulda, left south Chicago and became Hobart residents. Then or soon afterwards, they bought a small farm on the east side of Hobart, and there they would raise their own family.


The Palm farm on the east side of Hobart, as shown in the 1939 Plat Book.

The move put the Palms at a more convenient distance from the Lindborgs. The two families visited often.

The spring of 1913 was rough on the Lindborg family — both of the little ones were sick. In late March, Mildred and Franklin went through the measles. By mid-May the Hobart News reported that "Sonny" (Franklin's nickname) now had the mumps. But by the summertime, both children were well again.

While she was nursing her children through that sickly spring, Anna was in the early stages of another pregnancy. Fortunately, she suffered no ill effects, and on December 3, 1913, she gave birth to her third child. The little girl was named Gladys, but before long her doting Aunt Elma began calling her "Tootsie." The rest of the family picked up the habit, and the nickname, shortened to "Toots," stuck with her for the rest of her life. Luckily for her, Gladys didn't mind.


(Click on image to enlarge)
The Lindborg family with some of their relatives, probably during the summer of 1914. This photo may have been taken to commemorate the christening of Gladys Lindborg and her cousin, Helen Palm, which took place in Hobart on Sunday, July 19, 1914. Gust Lindborg stands at the far left; Anna is seated in front of him, with baby Gladys on her lap. The two children seated in front are Mildred and Franklin Lindborg.
Image from a private collection.

♦    ♦    ♦
Toots has been memorialized, in a way, at the Lake County Historical Museum in the old courthouse building in Crown Point, Indiana. After her death, her younger sister donated to the museum the doll that Gladys always played with as a child. The doll now lies under glass in the museum. Her delicate China hands show evidence of much hard playing.


(Click on image to enlarge)
Gladys' doll on display in the Lake County Historical Museum. Below, a photo from the early 1920s of Gladys on the front porch of the Lindborg house, holding her doll. Mildred Lindborg captioned the photo, "Toots and her doll."




[to be continued]


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1939 Plat Book.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 3 Jan. 1913.
♦ Advertisement. Hobart Gazette 6 June 1913; 25 July 1913.
♦ Advertisement. Hobart News 15 May 1913.
♦ "Ainsworth." Hobart News 24 Aug. 1911.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 15 Nov. 1912; 6 Dec. 1912;
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 10 Oct. 1912; 17 Oct 1912; 21 Nov. 1912; 2 Jan. 1913; 13 Mar. 1913; 3 Apr. 1913; 11 Dec. 1913; 23 July 1914.
♦ "Ross Township." Hobart News 10 Apr. 1913; 17 Apr. 1913; 22 May 1913.